White Houses
by LilyoftheValley77
Summary: All Human, Alt-Universe. Bella goes to an art performance camp the summer before her senior year. Based on the Vanessa Carlton song, White Houses. M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this is my new fic that I am starting at the same time as slow and steady. This story is going to be quite a bit different from my other one. Just so I set the expectation from the beginning, this is an all-human, alt-universe and a lot of characters may act a bit different then some of you expect them to. This story is completely based on one of my favorite songs and I have a feeling that if I do not write the story, the song will never leave my head! I hope you all enjoy this story. Please review and let me know what you think. **By the way, Bella is not a klutz in this story and is actually quite graceful :)**

By the by- the song is obviously White Houses by Vanessa Carlton. If you want to have an inkling of the plot line, listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics. If you don't want to ruin it, don't listen. I personally think it might enhance the story, but I could also see how it might distract. You will still have lots of things to be surprised with in the story!! Please read and review and let me know what you think! In every chapter, I will probably post a line or two of the story as it pertains to the chapter.

_Crashed on the floor when I moved in  
This little bungalow with some strange new friends_

The taxi dropped me off on a dirt road amidst all the chaos, before pulling out. I hoped I had made the right decision in coming here. I left all my friends the summer before senior year, all to pursue this performance arts camp that my dance teacher encouraged me to attend that she applied me for without my knowing.

I was anxious to say the least, but at the same time excited that I would be spending my entire summer dancing. Dancing was my passion, it was the way I truly expressed myself. Although my friends understood that, I knew that the kids at this camp lived for the very same thing and that excited me.

I grabbed my suitcases and walked down the dusty road for about a quarter mile. I groaned thinking that the taxi could have at least drove up as I saw cars drive by and honk with teenagers laughing passing me by. Freaking taxi driver.

Finally, there was a clearing with a set of buildings in the distance. There were people everywhere milling about with luggage or forms in their hands. A few of them were smiling and giving each other hugs or pats on the back. I wondered how many of these teenagers knew each other from other camps. I hated feeling like the new kid in school. I consoled myself with the knowledge that there were probably were lots of kids here that did not know a soul either.

Multiple lines had formed at various tables and I was a little lost. A petite brunette with spiky hair was walking by. I touched her shoulder. She jumped from surprise at first but then upon glancing at me, had an easy smile. I gently pulled her aside.

"Excuse me, but do you know where exactly I should register?"

She smiled again and with a bounce to her step, pointed in the direction of a table to the left with a long line of students. "Over there. But I would suggest going to cabin assignment table first and finding out where you will be staying and dropping off those bags. Registration will be open for a long time." She winked at me. "The cool kids all wait til right before dinner to register anyways. Shorter lines."

I laughed, staring at the girl as she glided away. _Well, she was perky_. I thought to myself as I took her advice and moved to the cabin assignment table. The line there flew by, and within five minutes I was face to face with a woman who had a long list in front of her. "Name?"

"Bella Swan."

She skimmed down the list. "Swan... swan.... Swan... ah, there you are." She raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. "You are in Bungalow 7 with four other girls. You lucked out, you got one of the eight bungalows by the lake. Most girls would kill to have that instead of the cabins, most have an "in" to get one. Here is a map of the housing. I'm afraid you have a bit of a hike, but it's the trade off for the nice housing. Good luck."

"Thanks." I replied as I took off in the direction she pointed in. It was yet another dirt road and I studied the map as I made my way down it. There were 4 bungalows for girls and 4 for the boys. The rest of the cabins were by the main campus. The bungalows seemed a lot more private. The bungalows went all the way around the lake it seemed, with the exception of a pair of them that were right next to one another on the other side of the lake. Those would suck to have.

I made my way to Bungalow number one. They all appeared to be white houses, with a small covered porch on the front. They were cute and much nicer then I expected. Of course, I needed to remember, I got here on a scholarship, most of these people came from money, so of course their mummy and daddies would not want them living in nothing but the nicest facilities. I shook my head at how awful that sounded.

I realized quickly that Bungalow seven was one of the houses across the lake. I groaned, dragging my luggage with me along, the dust kicking up around me. Sweaty and agitated, I finally saw the number seven. Again, the house was painted white. I entered in the cabin,and came into a common living room and small kitchen. The overall feeling of the cabin was nice. The furniture looked warm and inviting, and the downstairs was well lit from the windows. Well, at least I would not be bunking it for the next two months.

A gorgeous blond walked down the stairs just then. Her hand slide along the rail, and I could not help noting that she looked like a movie star. She smiled, but I could tell she was taking in my appearance and making a snap judgement on if I was worthy to be in her presence.

"Hi." I stated simply.

She finished walking down the stairs and stopped right in front of me. "Hello." She stuck out her hand. "I am Rosalie Hale. Who are you?"

I shook her hand firmly. "Bella Swan."

"What are you here for, Bella? I am guessing dance from your figure."

I nodded. "Exactly. And you must be here for acting, I am guessing. You already have that Hollywood look."

I could tell that this was a great compliment to her. She positively beamed. "You're right. I can tell we are going to get along. You are the last one here, so I'm afraid that you don't have your choice of rooms. The others will be back. Yours will be the 2nd door on the left."

I walked up to my room. It was a relatively plain room, not very big, but at least it was mine. No view of the lake. Damn. Well, I figured we couldn't all have views, but I was thinking that there would at least be... a bed. Sighing, I put my bags on the floor next to where the bed should have been and walked downstairs. Rosalie looked up.

"Um.. I was thinking there should be a bed."

She laughed. "Oh yeah, well, Alice notified the groundsman that there was a bed missing. No idea how that happened. So, hopefully you will have one tonight or tomorrow."

I groaned. Looks like I was sleeping on the floor tonight if it did not show up tonight. At least Alice, whoever she was, reported it right away. "So, where is everyone else? Do you know them?"

"They are around. There are five of us total in the cabin and we all know each other in some format. There is myself. I am here for theatrical arts. Alice, she is a really perky person and is here for dance as well. You would be surprised because she is short, but she is the best dancer I have ever seen. You will probably be around her a lot. Then there is Jessica. She is here for vocal. Finally, there is Lauren. She plays the Violin. I think you will like them a lot."

"Sounds like you have known them for a long time."

"Lauren and Jessica have been going to performance camps for several years now and last year, the camp we went to, Jessica and I were bunkmates, so I got to know her really well. Lauren is Jessica's best friend, so I became good friends with her as well. And Alice, well, Alice I have known since we were kids. Our families run in the same circles. Last year, Alice had toured over the summer with her dance troupe, so she did not go to camp with me. But with the exception of last year, our parents always sent her, Jasper, Edward, and I to the same camps. We are like the four musketeers."

Great. I really was the new girl. "Who are Jasper and Edward?"

"Oh! You will meet them tonight, if not sooner. Edward actually lives in the same neighborhood as me. He plays piano. He is a prodigy if you ask me. He is an overall nice guy. Edward is a bit reserved, but the girls love him. At every camp I have been to, he is like the local celebrity. People know that he is going to be somebody someday. Hell, he already is somebody. Honestly, I don't know why he even goes to these things. He is already advanced beyond what the teachers can teach him. I think he just likes getting away from his family. The Cullen's are really nice, but intense and they expect him to excel at everything he touches. He is a straight A student, class president at our prep school, on the football team, as well as a genius at the piano. The nice thing is, despite all that, he still hasn't let it get to his head really."

I thought on that for a moment. How hard it must be for your parents to expect you to excel at everything. I guess the only worse thing is for your parents to expect you to excel at nothing.

"And Jasper…" she paused dramatically. I guess I would need to get used to that. "Jasper has been my best friend forever. He is my cousin on my mother's side. He plays guitar, and mostly came here because we were all here. I don't think he really appreciates the arts the way the rest of us do. He is not bad at it, just doesn't have the same passion about it we do. But he is a fun guy to be around. Him and Alice dated for a couple of years and broke up about six months ago. It was not a pretty breakup. It was mutual, but there is still a little underlying tension there, so don't be surprised if those two aren't exactly friendly."

"So where are they, on the main campus?"

Rosalie smiled broadly. "Hell no! Mom and Dad made a heafty contribution to the camp this year, so they are next to us in the next bungalow over. Should be a fun summer!"

Fun summer indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So here we are on chapter two… hope everyone likes. This is definitely different than my other story, but I am really excited about some of the future chapters I have planned for this one. _

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot that last chapter… I own Twilight. There I said it. I am rich and even though I make millions off movie rights and book sales, I feel the need to come on and mess around with my characters some more…. :) Okay, not true, but wouldn't it be great if it was?? I also do not own the rights to the wonderful brilliant White Houses. Seriously, I have had the idea for this story stuck in my head since two months ago when I heard this song on the radio. And it just wouldn't leave, so it is being written. 

_Stayed up too late _

_and I'm too thin_

After a little bit I left Rosalie in the Bungalow, to register for my dance classes. I walked around the lake slowly, finally enjoying the serenity of it all. I was still amazed that the camp allowed some of the students to be so far away from the rest of the campus, especially mixing the sexes like that. It's just asking for trouble from the administrations standpoint. But from what Rosalie stated, it looked as if this camp had been funded by trust fund money for quite some time, so it seemed like they were willing to turn some heads as long as their wallets were padded.

The spiky brunette was right; the registration lines were much shorter later in the afternoon. I registered quickly, and took my schedule of my dance classes. I was excited. This was definitely not an ordinary camp. Looking at the schedule, it appeared I would be studying with some of the most prominent dance instructors out there. Every week, a new instructor came to the camp to teach and to mentor the dancers. Not only was I going to be studying ballet, but the summer tutorials would also be focusing on Jazz, Tap, Swing, Latin, Hip Hop, and Modern Dance. I knew Jazz and Tap fairly well, but I was never really studied the other four. I could not wait to start.

I glanced at my watch, noting that it was four thirty in the afternoon. I decided to head back to my cabin, get changed out of these sweaty clothes, head off to dinner, then the introduction celebration in the theater. With any luck, maybe I would meet several more of my cabin mates. When I walked up to the cabin, there were two girls lounging on the porch I had not met previously. They looked at me curiously. I smiled slightly and did a slight wave as I walked up the stairs.

"Hi! I'm Bella. You must be my house mates." I tried to sound as perky as possible. My friends at home knew I usually hated meeting new people, but I was absolutely determined to break out of that shell this summer. College was coming up, and I was not going to know a soul there either so I might as well get started on building my social skills.

The brunette smiled back after a moment. "Hi Bella. Nice to meet you. I'm Jessica, but call me Jess, and this-" she pointed to the blonder girl, "is Lauren."

"Hello."

Jessica continued. "Rosie has told us all about you. You must have impressed her. She had nothing but good things to say. Trust me when I say that is NOT an easy thing to do. It took me two weeks practically to have a decent conversation with her last year, never mind have her be friendly. She finally warmed up to us though! So Bella, Rosie states that you are here for Dance?"

I nodded happily. "Yep. Got accepted to the camp on scholarship. My passion is Ballet, but I am excited to be able to have more of a focus on other dancing styles. Except Hip Hop, but only because I don't think I am very good at it."

Lauren's eyes lit up. "Oh, you will love Alice! She can help you with that. Alice loves Hip Hop and is really talented. You two probably have loads in common."

"Is she here?" I asked looking around.

"No…" Jessica nodded her head towards the bungalow next to ours. "She is over at talking to the guys right now. Specifically, I think she is talking to Jasper. They were going out before and it did not end on the best of terms from my understanding of it all. I think they are trying to salvage some kind of friendship out of all of this, especially where they are in close quarters for the summer."

"Rosalie had filled me in on their history briefly, that has got to be tough for them. So you sing, Jessica?"

"Yep. But I am also dividing my time between some of the acting and dancing tutorials as well. I love musical theater, and my goal in life is to be on Broadway, so it's kind of important that I am a triple threat."

I loved musical theater. "Wow. Favorite musical?"

"Rent." She answered quickly.

I grinned. We were going to get along. "Mine too! Lauren, Rosalie stated that you play violin?"

"Since I was four."

I couldn't believe the amount of talent just in these three people I had met. My dance instructor really was not kidding when she stated that this camp was one of the most elite in the country. I relaxed on the porch with them for a few minutes before deciding to head up and take a shower. I glanced at my bed-less room and grabbed a towel from one of my suitcases as well as the shampoo. I did notice that there was only one bathroom between five teenage girls. That could get interesting. I jumped in the shower, relishing in my strawberry shampoo and body wash. It felt good to get the dirt and grime of the camp washed off. I got a feeling I would be taking a lot of showers this summer if this humidity kept up.

I towel dried my hair and put my hair back in a ponytail. I ended up deciding on a pair of jean shorts and a light blue spaghetti strap tank top. It was too hot to wear much else. Threw on my flip flops and headed out the bathroom. I walked back to my room, throwing the dirty clothes and towel in a corner before taking the stairs two by two. At the bottom of the stairs, I was greeted by a tiny figure with her back to me. Rosalie was standing in front of her, and nodded in my direction. "Alice, behind you is Bella."

Alice, turned around. It was the perky girl that I asked for help from. She smiled at me. "Bella! We meet again!"

Rosalie gave a confused look. I spoke. "Alice was kind enough to give me directions this morning when I had no idea where I was going. So I heard you are in dance with me?" I was surprised. Alice had more than a tiny figure, true, but she was short.

"Yep! I know that we will have a great time together." Alice hooked arms with me and chatted about all the different dance styles she had been studying throughout the years. Lauren was right, Alice's forte was Hip Hop. I could never picture that being my strength, but hopefully with Alice's tutelage, I wouldn't look so ridiculous. We sat on the couch for a couple of hours just chatting about dance. It was nice. My friends back home knew my passion about dancing, but none of them did it so I could never have an in depth conversation about the dedication it took to make dancing an actual career, or the injuries you had to endure. Even though it had only been a couple of hours, I felt as if I had a kindred spirit in Alice. I felt my stomach growling before glancing at the clock on the wall. Seven-thirty.

"Shit." I muttered.

"What?" Alice asked, genuinely concerned.

"Food. Per the packet earlier, dinner was supposed to be at 5:30. We missed it."

"Bella-" she laughed. "Didn't you see all the girls leave? I just thought you did not want to eat."

"Uh... no… why wouldn't I want to eat?"

"Well… you know… we need to keep our figures and all. It wouldn't hurt either one of us to skip a few meals."

What? I could not believe the words coming out of her mouth. Was she calling me fat? I was a size zero and she was even thinner than me. I was always the smallest in my class in Phoenix. I mean, true, I ate healthier than most teenagers I knew, but to skip a meal? I was never going to be one of those afternoon school specials about the anorexic/bulimic dancers. That was just not me. And I hoped it wasn't Alice either. "Alice, I do not have an eating disorder…" I looked at her concerned. "Do you?"

Alice looked slightly embarrassed. "No! I eat plenty, Bella. Trust me."

As I was about to ask if there was anything in our fridge yet, I heard multiple loud voices outside. A lot of them were male. Alice clapped in delight. Man, where did she get all that energy? "It looks like you are going to meet our neighbors!"

Jessica, Rosalie, and Lauren all came through the door first, laughing loudly about something. "Bella! Alice! You should have come! It was so boring and the food was awful! You would have loved it!"

I laughed. I noticed that Lauren had a large paper bag in her hand. Before I could inquire about what was in the bag, others started to filter through the door. There were three very good looking males that stumbled through the room.

"Hi!" The first one that walked through the door had to practically duck through the door he was so tall. He looked at me and stuck out his hand. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Black. You must be the new girl." I blushed before shaking it. He was Native American, his skin russet in color, and he looked like he could be twenty-five.

"That would be me. Official name: New girl. How do you know everyone?"

"I don't." He winked at me. "I'm the new kid too. I just met Alice earlier at our place and figured out you must be Bella from my powers of deduction."

I was about to comment on Jacob's brilliance, but a blond, boy next door type stepped in front of him and a very muscular fellow moved Jacob out of the way. "Hey Bella! I'm Mike."

"And I'm Emmett." I noticed Rosalie, Jessica, and Lauren eying the three of them hungrily. I especially noticed the little glances between Rosalie and Emmett. I would have to find out what was up with the two of them after.

Alice looked out the door before peering back in. "Where are the troublemakers, Rose?"

She just laughed. "Edward and Jasper? They are currently getting the… refreshments. They will be here in a few minutes."

Alice clapped her hands again. "Goody! Refreshments. I should have known they would not disappoint. What do you have in the bag, L?"

Lauren smiled. "Nothing but Limes, mint, and sugar."

We spent the next few minutes talking to the boys. I found out both Jacob and Emmett were both in the dramatic arts program along with Rosalie, while Mike was in the music program as well. Emmett and Mike met Edward last year and decided to all go to this camp together. Jacob was here on scholarship like me. With Jacob, our talk so far was effortless. It seemed like him and I could be really good friends. Mike and Emmett were nice too, but they were otherwise engaged, flirting with the other girls.

Suddenly, like a movie scene in slow motion, two of the most handsome boys I had ever laid my eyes upon walked into my life. The first was lanky with messy bronze hair. He had a crooked smile that was just too beautiful for words. He placed a large brown bag in the center of the room on the coffee table. He had not seen me.

The second boy, was more of a medium build, tall, with slightly curly blond hair that was long enough to look like it needed a haircut. His eyes locked with mine, and for a moment time stopped all together. His eyes were a deep blue. The depths conveyed in them was staggering and I felt like I needed to catch my breath just from that all of ten second interaction.

Rosalie started making the final introductions. "Guys, the new girl here is the one I was telling you about, Bella. Bella, this is Edward," she pointed at the bronze haired boy. "My neighbor since forever, and this one…" she smirked, pointing to the blond, "Is Jasper, my cousin. Biggest pain in the ass on the planet."

"Oh come on. I am not all that bad." Jasper replied with an unexpected but very sexy southern drawl. He walked over and shook my hand, continuing the intense gaze we had shared only moments before. This was Alice's ex? Figures. I was going to have to tread very lightly with my instantaneous attraction to him.

Edward, after taking what I correctly guessed to be alcohol out of the bags, finally turned upon hearing the introduction. My eyes caught his green ones and I staggered once more. He was an old soul. That I could tell right away. I smiled at him, and he returned it with that crooked smile of his that I was guessing was his trademark that made the girls follow him all around. I could understand why and if I wasn't cautious I would be one of them.

The fact that I was instantly attracted to two guys, threw me for a loop. I was always a one crush at a time kind of girl and certainly, I had never dated anyone of the caliber that _any_ of these guys were. It was like I had died and gone to out of control teenage hormone heaven.

I shook my head straight. Hell no. I was not going to be one of these moony girls who could not get a guy out of her head, let alone two. I was more than that. If something happens, it happens. But I was here to study dance, not meet guys. And dance is what I would focus on.

"So… is that alcohol I see in front of me?" I asked coyly.

Alice, who had been watching the exchange between Jasper and I with obvious interest, replied with a smile. "Why yes it is. Our Edward here is known for his Mojitos. You should really try one."

Mike interrupted then. "Yes, but Jasper is known for making a mean Caipirinha."

"Okay, I have heard of Mojito's, but capa… what?"

Jasper laughed. "Caipirinha. It's the national drink of Brazil. Our group here is divided on which drink is better. I guess it will be up to you and Jacob to break the tie."

Jacob stepped in."Okay, I want to know who is who. So raise your hand if you are pro… Capa… ah fuck it. If you are pro Mojito."

Lauren, Alice, Emmett, and Edward raised their hands. So that left Mike, Rosalie, Jasper, and Jessica as fans of the Caipirinha. I was curious to try both of them, but I was not good with liquor and I decided that between my lack of eating dinner this evening along with my sudden attraction issues, it would be best if I stayed sober. "Well, Jacob, you are going to need to settle this one. I don't drink hard alcohol. I just do beer. Lots and lots of beer. And unfortunately for me, it looks like you don't have any."

Jessica piped up. "Oh that's not true. Check out the fridge. I hope you like Sam Adams."

Shit.


End file.
